No letter in the [New Testament] reveals the true character of the Christian ministry as does this one. No letter says so much about Christian giving, suffering, or spiritual triumph.
—WARREN W. WIERSBE1
Paul identifies himself as the author of this epistle (1:1; 10:1), and his authorship is not seriously disputed.2 He wrote it from Macedonia around 56 AD, about one year after writing 1 Corinthians. His main purpose in writing this letter is to prepare the Corinthian church for his upcoming visit and to instruct its members on how to handle the problems they are confronting.3 Many scholars believe this is Paul’s fourth letter to the Corinthian church. The first was a lost letter Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 5:9; the second was 1 Corinthians; and the third was a severe and sorrowful letter he mentions in 2 Corinthians 2:3–4.4 Events that occurred between Paul’s writing of 1 and 2 Corinthians shed light on this epistle.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul does not mention certain problems in the church he addressed in 1 Corinthians, such as issues concerning the Lord’s Supper and lawsuits among congregants. Some scholars infer from Paul’s silence that the church has now corrected these problems. Nevertheless, other problems persist, including worldliness and false teachings. These troubles largely stem from conflicts instigated by Paul’s opponents from Palestine, causing Paul to make another trip (a “painful visit”) to Corinth. During or after this visit, one of Paul’s opponents publicly insults Paul, accusing him of vacillating (1:17), being domineering (1:24), ministering without proper qualifications (3:1), weakness (10:1, 10), being insufficiently humble (10:13–17), and walking according to the flesh (10:2).5 In response, Paul sends Titus from Ephesus to the Corinthian church to deliver a severe letter—so severe Paul later admits he has some regrets about it—that recommends the main accuser be punished. Paul also instructs Titus to organize the collection for the Jerusalem church.6
After visiting the Corinthians, Titus is supposed to meet Paul in Troas with their response to his letter and a report on their subsequent behavior.7 As the Lord has opened a door for him, Paul intends to preach the Gospel in Troas. But he becomes restless in spirit because Titus is not there, so he proceeds to Macedonia to attend the churches and organize a collection (2 Cor. 2:12–13; Acts 20:1, 2).
Titus comes to Macedonia reporting that the Corinthians responded favorably to Paul’s “severe letter” (2 Cor. 7:5–16).8 Paul is relieved and joyful to learn they have taken his letter to heart and dealt with the main culprit. As it turns out, most congregants are loyal to Paul, and Titus has grown fond of the church. This might well account for Paul’s thanksgiving to God for the improvements at the church in the first seven chapters of 2 Corinthians. But there are still problems in the congregation due to a restless minority being stirred by Paul’s opponents to reject him and his Gospel.
Paul writes this epistle from Macedonia, addressing the church’s improvements as well as lingering problems among certain congregants.9 Because of the abrupt change in tone in Chapter 10, some commentators contend that Paul wrote the first nine chapters while doing pastoral work in various areas, including Macedonia along the Egnatian Road and possibly in Illyricum (Romans 15:19–21). They argue that he wrote the last four chapters after returning to Macedonia and learning of new problems in the church.10 (We’ll address this argument later in this chapter.) Subsequently, Paul mainly visits Corinth in Greece for three months (Acts 20:2, 3), where he most likely writes his Epistle to the Romans.11
2 Corinthians is a spirited defense of his apostolic credentials and his ministry. You can sense the depth of Paul’s anguish and incredulity at having to spend so much time and energy defending his authority. Uncomfortable “boasting” of his credentials, he stresses that he doesn’t seek self-aggrandizement but to rehabilitate the integrity of the Gospel message that he presented to the Corinthians and continues to clarify for them. Far from being prideful, Paul exhibits remarkable humility and selfless concern for the brothers throughout the epistle.12 Indeed, in this epistle, we see the personal toll Paul has suffered from his refusal to compromise the truth of the Gospel and from his struggle to communicate the truth, in love, to those resistant and hostile to the message. “No preacher in the history of the church has faced such intense persecution as did Paul,” writes John MacArthur, “and in this letter, he models how to handle suffering in the ministry (2 Cor. 1:4–10; 4:7–12; 6:4–10; 11:23–33).13
Paul introduces himself as an apostle of Christ and as the letter’s author, also mentioning Timothy, his beloved brother in Christ. He praises God the Father Who comforts us all in our affliction, which enables us to comfort others who are afflicted. This foreshadows a subsequent portion of this epistle that describes Paul’s personal suffering in preaching the Gospel. Here he exhibits his Christ-like attitude: we should not dwell on our suffering but instead use our experiences to help others, just as God comforts us.
Paul extends the principle further, demonstrating the paradoxical relationship between suffering and comfort. He connects our suffering with Christ’s (“as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings”) and ties our shared suffering with our shared comfort in Christ. But for Christ’s sufferings, we would be lost in our sins; His sufferings bring our comfort. Christians might endure their own suffering while obediently honoring the Great Commission, but Christ will comfort all who receive the message. Their converts repeat the process as they evangelize, as do those to whom they preach, creating a chain reaction.14
Moreover, when Christians suffer afflictions, they are comforted through their identification with Christ and are gratified because they’re delivering a life-giving message. This strengthens them to persevere when they’re attacked for their faith. When their suffering persists, they can turn to Christ for comfort. This entire process is immensely sanctifying for believers because it produces endurance, character, and hope (Romans 5:3–5). Though reassuring, this message doesn’t mean God will spare Christians from hardship if they have enough faith, as some prosperity Gospel preachers seem to suggest. We will face adversity—in some cases, we will face it precisely because we live out our faith. But God will console us when we turn to Him, and He’ll give us the means and guidance to withstand it.15
Paul describes “the affliction” he and his missionaries experienced in Asia: “For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death.” Paul may be referring to the conflict described in Acts 19:23–20:1, when the silversmiths rioted after hearing rumors that Paul was denigrating their goddess Artemis. He could be speaking about some other incident—there’s no scholarly consensus—but it matters little, for the point is that the experience was clearly severe, even life threatening. Constructively applying principles he has just articulated, Paul says the hardship forced them not to rely on themselves for deliverance but on God, “who raises the dead.” If God can cause the dead to rise and live again, He can certainly assist His missionaries with their gravest human struggles—and He did. They are confident He will deliver them again as they continue to evangelize. In the meantime, Paul requests the brothers’ prayer, which will help them and inspire gratitude among the praying Christians who see their prayers being answered.
I find this an encouraging verse because it shows Paul’s firm belief in prayer’s benefits. God’s chosen disciple to the Gentiles, who is operating under God’s direction and superintendence, is actively praying for God’s intercession. Jesus Himself prayed profusely, and commanded us to pray ceaselessly (Luke 18:1, 7; 1 Thess. 5:17). Paul constantly puts this principle into practice, realizing that prayer will help heal divisions in the church, embolden the brothers, and advance God’s will in countless ways.
Paul discusses the concept of boasting more in this letter than in all his others combined,16 mainly to defend himself against false charges from his opponents who are boasting in their own work. Paul’s “boasting,” by contrast, is not about himself but about Christ. He never takes personal credit for God’s powers working through him. This is a somewhat nuanced point because Paul testifies that he and his companions have behaved with simplicity and sincerity, which some could misconstrue as bragging. However, he isn’t seeking to rehabilitate his image for personal acclaim—rather, he seeks to ensure that false teachers don’t undermine the Gospel message by discrediting him and his fellow messengers. Paul defends himself for the benefit of the Corinthian brothers who have been teetering back and forth between the truth and false teaching.
They must understand his letter as he intends it, Paul says, resisting any misinterpretations the false teachers may concoct. He has inserted no hidden meanings in his letters.17 Paul prays that the Corinthians will come to fully understand his message so that when Christ returns and validates the message, they may boast in each other. Paul will rejoice in them on that day because their faith will prove he has honored his direct commission from Christ to preach the Word to the Gentiles. In turn, they will rejoice in him for witnessing to them and bringing them the message that inspires their life-giving faith.
Because of his affection for the Corinthians, Paul originally planned to visit them twice—first on his way to Macedonia, and again on his way back.18 His opponents claim his failure to come the first time proved he is undependable. His failure to visit Corinth, however, was not due to personal reasons but because he was following God’s schedule, not his own. Contrary to his opponents’ propaganda, he is a man of his word; he has not vacillated. His words to them are certain and reliable because God is certain and reliable, and he is doing God’s work. All of God’s promises find their Yes in Christ. God promised that He would provide a Savior for mankind and Jesus answered the call with His Yes. Therefore, Christians say Amen to God, and they join Jesus in saying “Yes” to God.19 God joins them together in Christ, and has anointed them, put His seal on them, and given them His Spirit as a guarantee of His promises to them of what is to come.
Paul delayed visiting the Corinthians to spare them. He does not want to exert undue control over the brothers just because he brought them to Christ, but instead strives to work hand in hand with them to bring them joy and security in their faith.
Paul explains that he refrained from visiting them again to avoid causing them pain, which would in turn cause him pain. Instead he wrote them, so that when he visited he wouldn’t feel pain but joy—which would make them joyful as well. He wrote them—with great sorrow—not to hurt them but to express his abundant love for them. Paul is referring to “the severe letter” he wrote shortly after his “painful visit.”20 This letter was lost, but it presumably directed them to discipline their disruptive members.
Paul wanted to correct them without unduly impairing their joy, so he offered his remedial advice constructively. As we’ve seen, Paul tailors his message to meet people where he finds them, and while he doesn’t spare them uncomfortable truths, he also doesn’t gratuitously distress them. He opted to give them more time to work through their problems before returning to them. His decision wasn’t selfish, as it probably anguished him to wait patiently while they struggled to resolve their problems. Indeed, we can see throughout Paul’s epistles his immense love for the churches he planted and his desire to be with each of them. As this is physically impossible, he strives to carefully communicate the Gospel to them when he’s with them, and to impart clear and instructive messages in his letters when he’s not there. In God’s providence, these circumstances result in Paul’s divinely inspired epistles, which have benefitted billions of people throughout the years.
Paul notes that if anyone has caused pain, it hurt the brothers, not him. But the majority of church members have sufficiently punished the offender, so the whole church should now forgive and comfort the man, to spare him overwhelming sorrow. The brothers must reaffirm their love for him. While Paul’s driving concern is the doctrinal health and harmony of the church, he never loses sight of individuals, even rebellious ones, for whom he also has great love.
Churches, in the first century and still today, must strike a balance when addressing disciplinary problems. “Both truth and grace,” writes Simon Kistemaker, “should be applied in keeping a sound and balanced approach to offense and offender in the church.”21 Disciplining members is sometimes necessary, but it should never be excessive. Disproportionate discipline defeats the purpose of helping the individual and spreads negativity that can crowd out the church’s love. On the other hand, excessive permissiveness in the name of love and tolerance can also corrupt the church.22 Paul’s reference to the majority decision suggests there were dissenters, but we don’t know whether they wanted less or more punishment for the offender.23 Regardless, Paul’s statement shows that he respects the church and its informed decision.
Now is the time for healing, for the offending member and the church. Paul had written them earlier to test their obedience, and they passed the test, as Titus’ report shows (2 Cor. 7:13–16).24 Further demonstrating his sincere esteem for the church, Paul says, “Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive.” Paul forgives the offender for their sake in the presence of Christ, Whom he mentions because, writes John Calvin, “there is nothing that ought to incline us more to the exercise of mercy.”25 Christians must forgive others because they have been forgiven themselves (Matt. 6:14–15; 18:35; Col. 3:13).26
A spirit of forgiveness prevents Satan from exploiting negativity and injuring individuals, or gaining a foothold in the church. A spiritual battle is already raging in the church between God and Satan over the soul of the rebellious member and over the church itself. “For it very frequently happens, that, under color of zeal for discipline,” notes Calvin, “a Pharisaical rigor creeps in, which hurries on the miserable offender to ruin, instead of curing him. . . . If Paul had not [cautioned mercy and forgiveness] Satan would have prevailed by kindling strife among them.”27
As noted above, when he came to Troas to evangelize, Paul was too anxious in spirit to pursue the opportunity because his brother Titus was absent, so he continued to Macedonia. This is less a statement about Paul’s anxiety—it is more so about his heartfelt concern for the Corinthians and his eagerness to hear from Titus about their welfare. His suffering is personal, but it springs from his concern for others.
Paul gives thanks to God for the marvels of the Gospel and for the privilege and opportunity of preaching it. Here, writes William Baker, Paul provides “the most in-depth reflections on the true nature of ministry anywhere in the New Testament.”28 Paul compares the advance of the Gospel over fierce opposition to the triumphal procession of the Roman armies. He likens the knowledge of Christ to a fragrance disseminated throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel. The apostles and missionaries presenting the message “are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.”
Paul is likely invoking the Old Testament description of burnt offerings as “an aroma pleasing to the Lord” (Lev. 23:18). But it’s not the smell of animal sacrifices that pleases God; it’s the sacrificial work of Christians spreading His Word, for Christians present themselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Romans 12:1; cf. Hebrews 13:15–16). Paul reiterates that this “aroma”—the Gospel—is foolishness and death to those who reject it, but eternal life for those who receive it. He notes that he and his team, unlike the false teachers, are sincere spokesmen of the Gospel, which they deliver with Christ’s authority and with God watching.
Paul claims he doesn’t need a letter of commendation to validate his apostolic authority. He has already proved himself by bringing the Gospel to the Corinthians and through the changed lives of the church members. They are his letter—a letter from Christ written not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts to be known and read by all. They are a living testament to Paul’s credentials, and he is their spiritual father. The phrase “written on human hearts” conjures language of the New Covenant promised by the prophet Jeremiah: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts” (Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10).
The New Covenant replaced the Old Covenant and is superior, providing salvation of sinners through faith in Jesus Christ. With the Old Covenant, God made Israel His treasured possession—a kingdom of priests—from whom would come the Messiah. But there was nothing in the Old Covenant, neither its sacrifices nor laws, that could save (Gal. 3:21). The Law under the Old Covenant brings death because it cannot save, but the Spirit under the New Covenant gives life. That’s why the writer of Hebrews calls the Old Covenant “obsolete” and notes that it “is ready to vanish away” (8:13). Paul fully credits God for authorizing and equipping him for the ministry of this New Covenant.
Paul says that “if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed its glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it.”
Paul is metaphorically referring to the radiance of God’s glory reflecting on Moses’ face when he came down the mountain carrying the stone tablets on which God had written the Ten Commandments (Exodus 34:29–30). If such glory emanates from the Old Covenant, which was coming to an end, how much more glorious is the ministry of the Spirit under the New Covenant, which is permanent?
Christians are bold in their hope—the certainty of their salvation in Christ—unlike Moses, who veiled his face so the Israelites wouldn’t see that its radiance was diminishing. Moses didn’t veil his face when he was meeting with God, but would cover his face after he came out and relayed to the people what God had commanded (Exodus 34:35). The Old Testament doesn’t explicitly state that the radiance on Moses’ face was fading, but Paul takes liberties to use Moses’ restoration of the veil as a symbol of the diminishing significance and ultimate passing away of the Old Covenant.29 The Israelites’ minds were hardened and they didn’t realize the impotence of the Old Covenant to save. This same veil remains in place today, Paul says, and only Christ can remove it. That is, the unbelieving Jewish people in Paul’s day are still clinging to the Old Covenant, impervious to the Gospel message.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, argues Paul, there is freedom. Through our faith in Christ, we have the Holy Spirit and are liberated from the penalty and power of sin. All believers, with unveiled faces, behold the glory of the Lord and are being transformed by the Spirit into His image in one degree of glory to another. This is a beautifully crafted description of the process of sanctification, whereby in reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit, the Christian increasingly becomes more Christ-like and reflects His glory.
This journey toward holiness is a process (Romans 8:29; Gal. 4:19; 1 John 3:2) whereby we are being transformed (Romans 12:2). Some are farther along than others, but no one will complete the journey until he is joined with Christ upon His return or upon His death, when He will be glorified. “But our citizenship is in heaven,” Paul tells the Philippians, “and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Philip. 3:20–21). John adds, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).
The beginning of this chapter offers valuable insight into Paul’s perspective. Notice he considers it a privilege to minister the Gospel. God, in His mercy, has commissioned him for this task, and he will not lose heart. His mission is wholly different from that of itinerant preachers who mislead people with false gospels and sometimes profit from their disgraceful conduct. He will not tamper with God’s Word. He has a sacred trust to deliver the Gospel message entirely as God gave it to him, for it isn’t just mostly correct; it is entirely true.
Paul communicates the message, undiluted, in God’s sight, and invites everyone to evaluate its trustworthiness through the filter of his own conscience. If the message seems obscure to anyone, it’s only because Satan (the god of this world) has blinded their minds and hardened their hearts to the truth of God’s glorious offer of salvation in Jesus Christ. “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart” (Eph. 4:18).
Paul’s preaching is not self-serving—he is not in a personal contest for glory against the false preachers and teachers. He is acting solely as Christ’s servant. Referring to the creation story in Genesis 1:3, he writes, “For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Paul may also be remembering that when Christ called him to be an apostle, He did so with a blinding light, instantly transforming Paul’s dark ignorance into a light of understanding. Christ then commanded him to go to the Gentiles “to open their eyes, so that they may turn darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:17–18).30
As believers, this light shines in our hearts; we carry this treasure in jars of clay, in our imperfect lives, to show that this amazing power does not emanate from us but from God. Paul’s metaphor highlights God’s graciousness in sharing the light of Christ with us—His imperfect vessels—just as God sent Him to be sin for us. But through their imperfect and flawed lives, Paul and his missionaries struggle through hardship to present the Gospel message, thereby sharing in Jesus’ death. In their suffering, they reflect Christ’s light in their actions so that His life will be manifested in their mortal flesh. They are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—and they persevere. By risking death itself to preach the Word to others, they bring spiritual life to others through the “death” that is at work in them.
Through his suffering, Paul affirms his undying faith in God, identifying with the psalmist who, in his suffering, prayed to God for deliverance: “I believed and so I spoke” (Psalm 116:10). Likewise, says Paul, “We also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.” Similarly, Paul and his team, despite their travails, preach the Gospel because they are confident that God, Who raised Jesus from the dead, will also raise them to eternal life with Him. Their missionary work is for the brothers’ sake, so that they may share in the same spiritual blessings and in eternal life. The more Paul suffers, the more God’s grace extends to others, enabling their salvation. All of this increases their thanksgiving and redounds to God’s glory.
Though their physical bodies are decaying, their inner spirits are renewed daily, so they do not lose heart. The temporal afflictions believers endure in this life are dwarfed by the “eternal weight of glory” that awaits them as they focus on those eternal things (“the things that are unseen”) instead of temporal things (“the things that are seen”). Elsewhere Paul assures the Romans, “Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:24–25). The writer of Hebrews concurs: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (11:1). And Jesus says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:19–21).
If our earthly bodies are destroyed, Paul writes, we will receive an eternal, imperishable body free of disease, decay, and death.31 In this life we groan, longing for our eternal dwelling—our new, glorified body. It’s not that we don’t appreciate our mortal bodies—rather, we anxiously await our eternal ones. Aware that Greeks believed the soul would be liberated from the body on death, Paul emphasizes that we will receive perfect bodies in exchange for the imperfect ones. God has given us the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our eternity. “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:13–14). The Spirit within us gives us assurance that we are in Christ: “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:15–16). Douglas Moo observes, “The Holy Spirit is not only instrumental in making us God’s children; he also makes us aware that we are God’s children.”32
In our human bodies, we are away from the Lord and would prefer to be at home with Christ; but we walk by faith and not by sight, and so we remain courageous. Being away from the Lord does not mean that we are not in Christ. We are away from His physical presence—we can’t see Him.33 In any event, we strive to please him, “for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ”—we will be accountable to Him for our actions in this life.
This does not mean the salvation of believers is in doubt. Our faith guarantees our salvation but, as previously mentioned, Christ will evaluate believers’ lives to determine whether they will receive rewards.34 “The judgment seat of Christ has to do with our service for the Lord,” writes William McDonald. “It will not be a matter of whether we are saved or not; that is already an assured fact. But it is a matter of reward and loss at that time.”35 Indeed, “believers do not face condemnation at Christ’s tribunal (see Romans 5:17, 18; 8:1),” observes Paul Barnett, “but rather evaluation with a view to the Master’s commendation given or withheld (1 Cor. 3:10–15; 4:5; cf. Luke 12:42–48).”36
Knowing they will sit before Christ in judgment, and given their deep reverence for God, Paul and his team dedicate themselves to serving Him and evangelizing others to bring them to knowledge of Him. God knows their hearts and sees their actions, and Paul hopes the Corinthians will understand them, too. They can discern Paul’s motives by comparing his work to that of the false teachers who boast of their external qualities—eloquent but empty speech and arguments—but aren’t spiritually true. Paul writes, “If we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.”
Paul realizes his evangelizing might have seemed overzealous, but it was only because of his passionate devotion to God37 and his love for the lost, as he hoped to bring as many as possible to Christ. He and his team are driven by Christ’s love because they know He died for all who have died so they may live for Christ. Not only is our salvation possible because of Christ’s substitutionary death, but once saved, through faith in Him, we begin to live for Him—committing our daily lives to walking the Christian walk and becoming more Christ-like through the power of the Holy Spirit working within us.
Before he was saved, Paul saw Jesus as a mere human being—in fact, he saw him as a charlatan and blasphemer.38 But he now understands that He is the Savior of mankind, God in the flesh. Many people today still think of Jesus just as a great prophet or moral teacher instead of as God, but believers know better. Additionally, Christians should no longer look at people in solely human terms. They must see their fellow Christians through a different prism—according to their standing with Christ. Once a person is saved he is a new creation, as the old has passed away and the new has come. When a sinner is saved, he is reborn—regenerated—and becomes a new creature in Christ (John 3:3; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 5:4). He doesn’t just turn over a new leaf but begins a new life under a new Master. He is not simply reformed, rehabilitated, or reeducated, but recreated and “living in vital union with Christ (Col. 2:6–7).”39
God reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and in return we have a duty, as Christ’s ambassadors, to call others to be reconciled to God. What an honor to be entrusted as God’s representatives to communicate His offer of salvation to others! Lest we get puffed up about this, we must also recognize the magnitude of responsibility this delegation confers. Paul implores the Corinthians, on behalf of Christ, to be reconciled to God. As they are already believers, He is not evangelizing them, but calling them to align themselves more closely with God—to reject all false teachings and accept God’s Word and the sound doctrine Paul has imparted. Even as Christians, we still commit sin, and we must repent of it to be reconciled to God—again, not for salvation, which we have already received, but to conform to Christ’s image, to walk in His footsteps, and to live as His servants.40
Why should we be reconciled to God? Because for our sake God made Christ, Who was without sin (Heb. 4:15; 1 John 3:5), to be sin for us—to take on the sins of the world (John 1:29; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:2) so that we could acquire His righteousness (Romans 5:17). “Jesus took our sin,” comments David Guzik, “but gave us His righteousness. It is a tremendous exchange, all prompted by the love of God for us!”41
Paul appeals to the Corinthians not to receive God’s grace in vain. Commentators interpret this in various ways. He could be urging Christians confused by legalistic teaching about their spiritual growth to mature in their faith (cf. Matt. 13:18–23), or he could be appealing to those who haven’t received the real Gospel because they have accepted the message of false teachers who teach salvation by works (cf. 2 Cor. 13:5; Gal 5.4). John MacArthur believes Paul is addressing both groups.42 N. T. Wright seems to prefer the first view, saying that Paul is appealing to the Christians not to squander the grace they’ve received. “Don’t let it go for nothing! Make the most of it! The new creation is already here.”43
David Garland insists Paul is talking to Christians because unbelievers wouldn’t have already received God’s grace in the sense Paul describes it. He says Paul could be exhorting all Christians to allow God’s grace to produce fruit in their lives, but he believes he has a more specific concern for the Corinthian believers based on what follows in verses 6:14–7:1—that they not be led astray by associating with idols.44 Paul tells the Corinthians that now is the day of salvation—the time of the New Covenant in which Christ has died for our sins and offers salvation through faith in Him. They must not turn back to a works-based legalism, follow idols, or otherwise squander God’s gracious gift of salvation.
Paul and his team have imposed no obstacles to their belief. They have conducted themselves in an exemplary way and meticulously avoided unchristian-like behavior that would deter people from the message. Though they have endured hardship and persecution as a result, they have remained pure, patient, and kind, through genuine love, truthful speech, and God’s power. They have marshaled righteousness as a weapon and served God regardless of whether people honor or dishonor them, slander them or praise them. They are treated as imposters, yet they are true; they are disrespected as unknown, yet they are well known; they are described as sorrowful and poor, yet they are always rejoicing; and, though having nothing, they possess everything. They live lives of self-denial and material abstinence, yet are spiritually rich and fulfilled beyond measure.
You can’t help but feel Paul’s flood of emotions in these words. He has spoken to them freely with an open heart, but they have rebuffed him with cold-heartedness, so he urges them to open their hearts to him and his missionaries.
After this earnest appeal, Paul counsels the brothers not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. This doesn’t mean Christians shouldn’t associate with nonbelievers. After all, he elsewhere instructs Christians to remain with their unbelieving spouses. Indeed, we are to take the Gospel message to unbelievers and model Christ-like behavior for them, which we couldn’t do if we shunned them.
Paul likely means we shouldn’t unite with non-Christians in any spiritual enterprise or relationship that would be harmful to our Christian testimony.45 Nor should we engage in any activity or learning that could compromise our faith or that of anyone else. Despite our duty to be Christ-like and loving toward all, we shouldn’t betray the truth itself by indulging the misguided beliefs of false religions as if they are true, just for the sake of pleasing man. Sometimes Christian doctrine is compromised today, even in our churches, when conflated with false teachings of other religions or worldviews. This isn’t just a matter of academic purity. The Gospel, rightly taught, is the power of the living God to save lives. If we permit the truth to be distorted, we are accomplices in leading people astray from the path of salvation. That’s why Paul warned his disciple Timothy, “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim. 4:16).
Idols have no place in the temple of God. Idols are entirely false gods, not partially true and partially false. Worshipping them is antithetical to the Christian faith and a grave insult to Christ’s sacrifice. Paul quotes Old Testament scripture to emphasize that just as God dwelt with Israel, Christians are now the temple of the living God, Who indwells us. Just as Israelites were God’s people, so too are Christians God’s people. Just as Israel was to separate itself from the nations and their idolatry, so must Christians be separate from false teachings and all forms of idolatry. Christians are commanded to be Christ-like and holy—to be separate and apart in their faith. By setting themselves apart to God, Christians will enjoy the richness of their adoption as God’s children in Christ (Romans 8:15–16, 23; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5). Recall that Jesus affirmed that His followers are His family: “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:33:34).
Since God has promised to dwell with believers and be their Father, they must cleanse themselves from bodily and spiritual defilements and become holier out of their great respect for Him. They must avoid sexual immorality and false teachings from counterfeit teachers and the pagan world. Thus separating themselves from worldly impurities, they should strive to grow more Christ-like through the power of the Holy Spirit. The brothers must not be suspicious or distrustful of Paul and his team but should open their hearts to them, for they have wronged no one, corrupted no one, and have never used their influential positions to exploit anyone. It appears that Paul is responding here to relentless criticism from his opponents.46
He assures them he is not condemning them, as he has a strong, intimate bond with them that unites them in death and life. In mentioning death first, perhaps he is referring to the Christian fellowship that derives from their shared faith in Christ’s sacrificial death and their new life in Him. Paul has great pride in them but speaks to them frankly, delivering his message in Christian love. Despite the afflictions he has endured, he is filled with comfort and joy in their spiritual development and expresses his great confidence in Christ’s work in them.
So great is his love for them that he couldn’t relax as he awaited Titus’ report on their progress, and through it all he continued to face hardships from all directions. But God comforted him and his missionaries through the arrival of Titus, who reported that the Corinthians had welcomed and encouraged him, and that they longed for Paul, which pleased him all the more.
Paul is an open book, confessing that even if he grieved them with his letter, he does not regret sending it. Yet he also betrays ambivalence, admitting that he does regret hurting their feelings but is thankful it was only for a little while. On balance, their Godly grief is beneficial because it leads to their repentance. Godly grief produces the kind of repentance that leads to salvation, whereas worldly grief produces death. Worldly grief is what happens when the sinner’s pride and self-absorption makes him sorry for what he has done and for having been caught; Godly grief is what happens when the sinner recognizes his sin hasn’t just harmed himself or other people but is also an offense to God. It motivates the sinner to make things right with God by showing true sorrow and regret for his behavior and earnestly seeking His forgiveness. Godly repentance occurs when people are initially saved—they consciously turn away from their sins and toward God. They must also feel genuine sorrow over their actions and vow not to repeat them. This regretful mindset is the mark of a Spirit-filled person, while worldly repentance is the mark of one who doesn’t have the Spirit.
Paul praises the Corinthians for the earnestness their Godly grief has produced in them. They are anxious to please God in every way by turning away from their misconduct, atoning, and accepting the consequences of their sin. Paul’s previous letter was not meant to shame them but to help them see for themselves, in God’s sight, how loyal they are to Paul and his team. His primary aim is to help them return to a Godly path. By showing their loyalty to Paul, they are proving they’re trying to align themselves with God’s will, for Paul has taught them His truths. Their demonstration of loyalty, and thus their Christ-centeredness, is greatly encouraging to Paul. Even more uplifting is the joy they gave Titus, which vindicates Paul’s pride in them. Titus’ affection for them has grown even stronger as he has recalled their obedience, respectfulness, and gratefulness. Based on Titus’ encouraging report, Paul is completely confident in them.
Paul happily reports that through God’s grace and despite severe affliction and extreme poverty, the churches of Macedonia—Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea47— have given generously and with great joy to the Jerusalem church. This foundational church of Christianity desperately needed assistance for food shortages and accommodations for countless visitors to the holy city.48 D. A. Carson observes that while material prosperity can conceal spiritual poverty, material poverty can conceal spiritual wealth.49 It’s an observable fact that some people, despite their material disadvantages, are joyful in the Lord; this is convicting to those who are more materially blessed and inspiring to everyone.
The Macedonian churches freely contributed beyond their means, considering it a privilege to help the relief effort for the Jerusalem saints (believers). They far exceeded Paul’s expectations as they sought to honor God, not to receive praise for their generosity. This is reminiscent of Mark’s description of people putting money into the offering box, with the rich contributing large sums and the poor widow offering two small copper coins. Jesus told His disciples, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on” (Mark 12:41–44).
Having shared the story of the Macedonians’ charity, Paul explains that he urged Titus to complete his task of collecting contributions from the Corinthians for this same relief effort. They excel in so many ways—in their faith, speech, knowledge, and earnestness, and in the love Paul and his team kindled in them—so it’s important that they also excel in charitable giving. He’s not commanding them to contribute but is appealing that they prove their love is Christ-like; Christ was rich but became poor for our sake, so that we might become rich.
Despite living in complete bliss and Trinitarian love with the Father and the Holy Spirit in eternity past, Christ decided, before the foundation of the world, to become a human being and die for our sins. He would endure all the indignities of human existence and undergo indescribable suffering to become sin for us—receiving God’s wrath in our place for all our past, present, and future sins—and experience excruciating separation from God so that we could live. Paul encourages them to imitate Christ, as he had the Philippians: “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philipp. 2:4–8).
What is important is their attitude in giving, not the amount they can give. They don’t have to suffer to ease the burdens of others, but in fairness, in their abundance they should help those in need. “This is not, however, a scheme of Paul’s to redistribute wealth within the church,” writes John MacArthur, “but rather to meet basic needs.”50 As an illustration, Paul notes that God provided manna from heaven to the Israelites in the wilderness, and He sovereignly arranged that every person would have just as much as he needed. “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack” (Exodus 16:18).
Paul is grateful to God for inspiring Titus to love the Corinthians just as he does. Titus has not only agreed to revisit them but is genuinely happy to do so. Paul will send another brother along with Titus who is known among the churches for his preaching and who will help oversee the collection efforts to ensure the monies are properly collected and delivered to their intended recipients in Jerusalem. They will all travel together to protect themselves against any criticism of their handling of the fund. Of course, they want to do what is right before God, but it’s also important that Christians be honorable stewards.
They will also send another brother who has often proved his commitment to the cause and who has great confidence in the Corinthians. Titus is Paul’s trusted partner and co-worker for their benefit, and the other brothers are messengers of the other churches and are an honor to Christ. Paul urges the Corinthians to demonstrate their love to all these men and to vindicate Paul’s boasting about them.
Paul needn’t have persuaded the Corinthians to contribute to the saints, for they showed their readiness a year ago, and he brags about that to the Macedonians. Their zeal for this charity has inspired most of the Macedonian churches to give as well. But he is sending the brothers to them to follow through with the collection, just to be sure they complete the task in an orderly manner. After all, it would be humiliating to Paul and the Corinthians if the Macedonians came with them and witnessed that they were not ready. Thus, he sent the brothers ahead of him to help organize the collections so that the giving would be done in the proper spirit, not like coercively collecting a debt.
Whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will reap bountifully. The NLT rendering is helpful: “a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.” This is consistent with the Old Testament teaching, “Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor” (Prov. 22:9).
Each person must follow his heart in giving, and not do it under compulsion. God loves a cheerful giver. It’s one thing to give out of a sense of duty or Godly obedience—certainly many who tithe fall into this category. I don’t think God disapproves an obedient giver, for the Scripture doesn’t say that. (Indeed, Paul says a few verses later that their generosity proves their obedience to the Gospel [9:13].) But it is clear He loves the one who enjoys giving because he has a charitable spirit, not because he expects to receive anything in return, including accolades from others.
A proper attitude toward giving derives from the giver’s conviction that everything he owns is a result of God’s graceful provision. One reason God provides for us is so we will provide for others. “Precisely because of the grace of God given to them,” writes Mark Seifrid, “they will be empowered and enriched to give to others.”51 Paul notes that God is able to graciously provide for our needs in all things at all times so that we may be equipped for every good work, citing this passage: “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever” (Psalm 112:9).
The farmer must scatter his seed freely on the ground to produce an abundant harvest, and Christians should be charitable toward the poor to reap God’s blessing.52 God blesses the charitable giver, materially or otherwise, in this life and in eternity. When we give charitably, we are doing God’s bidding; it is His good work operating through us. “The charitable acts of Christians, then, are all ‘part of that larger righteousness of God by which they themselves live and in which they will remain forever,’ ” writes David Garland. “Their righteous acts are ‘taken as the acts of God.’ ”53 Dr. Bob Tuttle, a seminary professor, author, and enthusiastic evangelist, says that Christians are instruments of God’s grace. It strikes me that his description is perfectly germane to this discussion—when we distribute freely to the needy, we function as instruments of God’s grace, which is a humbling but exhilarating thought.
Paul writes, “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.” He is paraphrasing an Old Testament passage: “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater…” (Isaiah 55:10). That is, God provides the rain and snow as His instruments to germinate the grain that is sown.
God does all the work—providing even the seed to be sown—so that farmers are dependent on him throughout the entire process. Without seed, there will be no crop. Just as seeds and harvests come from God, all our material and spiritual blessings come from Him and are sustained and increased by Him.54 God abundantly blesses our cheerfully given charitable contributions to the poor. He will increase the harvest of our righteousness (Hosea 10:12). “He will increase the blessings of multiplied human joy, and of lessened human sorrow,” writes George Clark. “God will increase the means and the blessed results of doing good. Both temporal and spiritual blessings are included.”55
God will enrich Christians in various ways so they can continue to be generous—and this wonderful cycle will continue. The recipients of this charity will give thanks to God. So not only will their material needs be met (such as the poor in the Jerusalem church), but they will benefit spiritually, offering their thanksgiving to God and giving Him glory. Through their generosity, the Corinthians will show their obedience to the Gospel. The recipients of their largesse will pray for them because of God’s abundant grace flowing through them. Paul says, “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” His thanksgiving could easily apply to this entire process of the saints organizing and distributing material gifts to the needy in Jerusalem and all the spiritual blessings that flow from it, but most commentators believe that Paul has God’s extraordinary gift of salvation in mind when he uses the term “inexpressible gift.”56
Paul begins this section saying he was gentle, meek, and humble in their presence but bold and direct in his letters. He hopes he doesn’t have to show the same boldness to them as he intends to show his critics who accuse him of walking according to the flesh.
Some detect biting sarcasm here, and I agree. It is as if Paul is saying, “Sure, I’m weak and cowardly, just like the Savior of mankind.” They shouldn’t mistake his gentleness for weakness, otherwise he’ll have to be as forceful with them as he’ll be with those who are trying to slander him. Meekness does not mean weakness or fearfulness, but “a moral quality of humility and gentleness, usually exhibited during suffering or difficulty and accompanied by faith in God.”57 It is part of the fruit of Christ-like character produced only by the Spirit (Gal. 5:23).58 Paul has already shown himself willing to confront people face to face, such as with Peter in Antioch after he refused to eat with the Gentiles (Gal. 2:11). He is prepared to be firm with his opponents and other members of the church if necessary, but that doesn’t mean he must be overbearing and flaunt his authority.
Paul’s opponents suggested he walked in the flesh and displayed worldly standards instead of Godly ones. He admits he walks in the flesh—in the sense that he is human—but adds, “We are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” Paul would use the same metaphor in his epistle to the Ephesians: “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (6:11–12).
Christians are engaged in a spiritual war against spiritual forces opposed to Christ. Human weapons are impotent in this conflict. Christians must rely on God’s power to combat these enemies. They must “put on the whole armor of God”—weapons that have the divine power to destroy strongholds, such as the divine attributes of truth, honesty, integrity, justice, holiness, righteousness, and faithfulness.59 The Holy Spirit empowers Christians to engage in this battle and supplies the necessary weapons (Eph. 6:10–20).
Satan’s war against the Church is grounded in lies—a counterfeit Gospel—designed to steer people away from the path to salvation. The way to fight it is with God’s truth: presenting the Gospel in clear terms, not watered down to please the itching ears of those who prefer a message that better suits their worldly ideas and sensibilities. Spiritual warfare largely takes place at the level of people’s minds, which is the doorway to the spirit. “It is primarily about bringing truth to bear on people’s minds,” writes J. Philip Arthur.60
Arthur says that because of the way spiritual warfare is depicted in Christian literature, we tend to think of it exclusively as an exotic, cosmic battle between angels and demons, or as involving exorcisms. While it certainly includes these things, it’s also waged on a more mundane level. The enemy seeks to undermine our value system, our worldview, and our normal patterns of thought. He seeks to twist God’s truth and distort Christian doctrine. Through his mostly unwitting agents in the culture, he stands the truth on its head, pulverizing the very notion of truth. He disguises good as evil and evil as good, and shatters our moral compass such that we teeter on the brink of moral and intellectual chaos. Arthur readily concedes that cosmic forces are locked in battle beyond our range of vision, but says that by unduly focusing on that, “we often miss the true theater of operations. . . . Think of it this way,” he says, “Far more souls have been lost through Satan’s manipulation of the intellectual and theological fashions of the age than through his recruitment of a handful of witches, or luring people into dabbling with the occult. The mind is the seat of man’s rebellion against God; it is where he asserts his desire for autonomy, his longing to answer to nothing and no one outside of himself.”61
Paul regards the Gospel as the antidote to the demonic assault on truth and everything we hold dear. It reorients us to think as God thinks. In Paul’s words, “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”
This means the Corinthians must return to their senses and recognize that Paul is God’s authorized representative. They cannot be led astray by the flashy, charismatic frauds challenging Paul’s authority. Once they correct themselves, he’s prepared to visit them again and punish the instigators of this war on the church. Paul is also issuing a battle cry to refute any arguments and prideful assumptions that contradict the teachings of Christianity, lest people be led astray from the truth and thereby reject Christ.
The false teachers can claim they are of Christ, just as Paul does, and just as anyone else could. But their claims are empty if they don’t exhibit evidence of it. Paul is truly of Christ, who directly called Him to be His main evangelist to the Gentiles. He prefers not to boast of his authority, but he will not hesitate to invoke it to encourage believers.
Paul disputes the charge that he is weak in body and speech but oddly bold in his letters. His message is consistent whether delivered personally or in writing. The false prophets belittle Paul’s appearance and bearing, wholly ignoring his enduring qualities and his teaching. Their accusations reveal their pettiness, jealousy, pride, and lust for power. These frauds measure themselves by crass human standards, which do not apply. For his part, Paul will use God’s standards and let Christ’s appointment speak for itself. He and his team are following Christ’s commands, which include presenting the Gospel to the Corinthians. Unlike the false teachers, they do not boast of work done by others. He fervently hopes the Corinthians’ faith will mature enough that he may expand his mission to places such as Spain and Rome.
Paul then returns to his oft-repeated theme— “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” That is, let’s not brag about our accomplishments for Christ as if we did them on our own, but humbly acknowledge we are working through His power. He is paraphrasing the prophet Jeremiah, who writes, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight,’ declares the Lord” (Jer. 9:23–24). People don’t prove themselves as Christ’s apostles or authorized missionaries simply by their empty self-assertions of authority. The true test is whether Christ has commended them.
Paul asks his readers to indulge him “in a little foolishness” as he defends himself against these false charges. He is divinely jealous of them (jealous on Christ’s behalf) because he promised them to Christ, as if He would be their husband and they would be faithful to Him. But he’s concerned that just as the serpent came to Eve in the Garden, false teachers are deceiving them with a false gospel, leading them astray from their pure devotion to Christ. There is no other Jesus, no other Spirit, and no other Gospel than those they have received.
Paul declares he is not inferior to these self-described “super-apostles.” Even if he lacks eloquence, he makes up for it in knowledge, as he has repeatedly shown. Or do the brothers believe he sinned in humbling himself by preaching the Gospel to them free of charge? He was so committed to them that he “robbed” other churches, allowing them to subsidize his missionary work with the Corinthians. Instead of seeking payment from them, he received it from the visiting Macedonian Christians, and he will continue to forgo support from the Corinthians.
Though he will not boast in a human sense, it’s important that he set the record straight on the false charges against him because they could undermine his credibility and his Gospel message. Out of his deep love for the brothers, and not for egotistical reasons, he defends himself. They must open their eyes and recognize the false apostles masquerading as Christ’s apostles, just as Satan masquerades as an angel of light. Satan’s servants—the false apostles—will get what’s coming to them.
Paul says no one should think of him as foolish, but he’ll indulge the fiction to counter his critics. Sardonically, he proclaims that he might as well get on the level of the false preachers, for the wise Corinthians have suffered fools gladly. They have willingly received the twisted teachings presented to them, while Paul and his team are too weak to employ those tactics. He then ticks off his apostolic credentials to highlight the absurdity of the brothers’ listening to the false teachers instead of him. He is a Hebrew, an Israelite, an offspring of Abraham, and a servant of Christ, a better one “with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.” (It was against Jewish Law to administer more than forty lashes, so they made a practice of stopping at thirty-nine [Deut. 25:1–3].)62 Paul continues,
Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
Paul is admitting he is weak in the human sense of the term, thereby identifying with the weak, who are persecuted for their faith.63 He is drained from caring for his brothers, but it’s his duty to endure such hardships on behalf of Christ, and he gladly does so. He stands before God and proclaims that he is not lying to them. He then reiterates that when he was in Damascus, ready to begin his missionary life, he had to escape the Jews by being let down in a basket through a window in the city wall.
Paul says he will continue to boast (in the sense he’s describing) and will tell of visions and revelations he received from the Lord. He knows a Christian who was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. The levels of heaven Paul is describing are these: the atmosphere where birds fly (the first heaven); the cosmos, where the sun, moon, and stars are (the second heaven); and the unseen realm where God dwells (the third heaven), which Paul equates with paradise.64 In the Old Testament, paradise refers to the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:8–10; 13:10; Isaiah 51:3; Ezek. 28:13; 31:8–9). In the New Testament, it is a place of blessedness where God dwells (Luke 23:43; Rev. 2:7).65
This Christian heard things that cannot be told, that man may not utter. Paul isn’t sure whether the man had a vision or was actually transported to heaven, but in any event, he learned divine secrets that are not supposed to be communicated to people.66 Paul says he will boast on the man’s behalf, but not on his own, although he could. He doesn’t want to boast about himself to the Corinthians but impress them only through his ministry.67 To ensure that Paul wouldn’t become conceited by the wonderful revelations he himself received, God gave him a “thorn in the flesh”—a messenger from Satan to torment him and keep him from becoming proud. He begged the Lord three times to remove the thorn, but He replied, “My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness.” Consequently, Paul will boast all the more in his weaknesses, so the power of Christ will come upon him even more. For Christ’s sake, he is content with his weaknesses and the insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities he endures. “For when I am weak,” says Paul, “I am strong,” which is a theme he expresses in more detail to the Romans (Romans 5:3–5).
Through the years, commentators have speculated about the nature of Paul’s thorn in the flesh. Some believe it describes those who persecuted Paul for his faith and for spreading the Gospel. Others imagine it could be some physical ailment ranging from headaches, to epilepsy, to eye problems, to malaria. There is no way to know, but it’s crucial that we understand it causes Paul great anguish.68 But ultimately, it appears to have been a positive force, as it increased Christ’s power working through Paul, which explains his paradoxical axiom, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Stated another way, “Weakness in the flesh is accompanied by strength in the Spirit.”69 Linda Velleville comments, “Human strength is like the flower of the field that has its day in the sun but then shrivels up and dies. Enduring strength lies in God alone.”70
Having completed his “boasting,” Paul laments that he needed to resort to this “foolish” speech, but insists the brothers forced him to do it by falling for the slander against him. Though he is nothing—because every gift he has he received is from God—he is not inferior to the “super apostles.” In addition to bringing the congregants the miraculous gift of salvation, he performed the signs, wonders, and mighty works of a true apostle among them. (According to numerous biblical accounts, signs and wonders authenticate the apostles’ authority [Acts 2:22, 43; 4:30; 5:12; 14:3; Romans 15:18, 19; Heb. 2:3, 4]).71 Note that Paul is clearly claiming to have performed miracles in the presence of the Corinthians—the very people he’s trying to re-convince that he’s an apostle. Unless Paul really did these things, he would have completely discredited himself and his entire message in this letter. Paul says he did not shortchange the Corinthians in any respect—except, he quips facetiously, by refusing their support, for which he asks their forgiveness.
He is now ready to visit them a third time, promising not to be a burden because he doesn’t want anything from them—except that they embrace the Gospel, be saved, adhere to true doctrine, and live as Christians. Using a family analogy, he likens them to his children, and says it’s not the responsibility of children to support their parents, but parents to support their children. Though he expends his own resources, time, effort, and energy for the salvation of their souls, will they love him less as he loves them more? Paul is obviously mystified that his selfless love for them is met with such aloofness and opposition. Perhaps he is intentionally revealing his perplexity, hoping they will embrace him anew when he returns.72
Next, Paul refers to an apparent claim that he exploited the congregants. Some commentators speculate that the brothers may have thought he would skim profits from the funds collected for the Jerusalem church. Others suggest Paul is preemptively refuting the accusation so no one will make it.73 Regardless, Paul adamantly denies that he or anyone with him, including Titus, took advantage of them. They all acted in the same spirit—working on behalf of the Corinthians and not themselves.
He reiterates that he has taken great pains to answer these false charges, not to defend himself personally, but to strengthen them in Christ. He fears that when he visits they might still oppose his message and be bogged down in quarrels, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder—the fruit of paganism.74 If that happens, he may have to administer God’s judgment rather than wait any longer for their repentance,75 which would cause him to mourn over any who had not repented from their sinful practices.
As noted, Paul is about to visit the Corinthians for the third time. The first was when he presented the Gospel to them, and the second was when he found they were in opposition to him and his teaching. He implies he’s concerned they’re still engaging in sinful practices, for he says that every charge against them must be demonstrated by two or three witnesses, adopting the forensic rules of the Old Testament (Deut. 19:15). He reminds them that he previously warned the sinners and all others that if he found it necessary to return, he would not spare them from disciplinary measures. This would show them, contrary to their claims, that Christ is speaking in Him, and that he is powerful in dealing with them. Just as Christ was crucified in weakness but lives in the power of God, Paul and his team are also weak in Him—but in dealing with the Corinthians, they will be living with Him and by God’s power, and thus be strong.
In anticipation of his visit, they should contemplate whether they are in the faith. If they are, Jesus Christ is in them; if not, they will fail the test. Paul prays they pass the test, but if they don’t, it won’t indicate that he has failed in his mission, for he presented them with the truth of the Gospel. He hopes his apostolic services are not needed for them and prays for their restoration to spiritual strength in Christ. He doesn’t want to use his authority severely when he comes, for Christ appointed him to build up, not tear down.
He urges them to rejoice and comfort one another and live in peace and harmony, assuring them that the God of love and peace will be with them. He wishes that they all enjoy the grace of Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit—a genuine prayer that all three persons of the Godhead unite to bring them to full restoration and peace.
Many commentators have struggled with the dramatic change in tone in this epistle beginning with chapter 10. In the first part of the letter, Paul expresses his elation at the Corinthians’ positive response to the “severe letter” he’d sent. One theory is that after he wrote (but hadn’t yet sent) the first part of the epistle, he learned of major backsliding by some members of the church. He then completed the letter and sent it.76
Another view is that Chapters 10–13 constituted the severe letter itself, which was later tacked on to this epistle.77 But then how would we explain that Chapters 10–13 contain strong rebukes of the false teachers, while Chapters 1–9—which would have been written later, under this theory—are totally silent about them? Additionally, Paul refers to the severe letter in verse 2:4, which he says he wrote out of much affliction and anguish of heart. When you read Chapters 10–13, however, they have a more sarcastic than anguished tone.78
Others believe he might well have intended to compartmentalize problems and address them separately, as he did throughout 1 Corinthians. The argument here is that he saved a major problem to address at the end of 2 Corinthians—possibly for greater impact, since he was preparing to visit them soon—hoping to avoid a dramatic encounter over a disciplinary issue by fixing their attention on the problem in this letter.79
Most conservative commentators believe in the letter’s integrity and reject the notion that it comprises two separate letters. They note:
1. All the contents relate to a single, unified purpose: to prepare the Corinthians for Paul’s third visit to Corinth;
2. Throughout the letter, Paul defends himself against false charges leveled against him;
3. Numerous expressions in the second section seem to relate to statements in the first section;
4. There could have been a lapse of time between the writing of the first and second sections, as noted, during which Paul learned of worsening conditions in the Corinthian church;
5. If they are two separate letters, it would be difficult to explain the absence of an ending to the first one and the lack of a beginning to the second one;
6. There is no evidence from the writings of the early Church fathers to suggest there were two letters; and
7. No manuscript evidence exists to support the multiple letter theory.80 On this point, R. C. H. Lenski summarizes, “One fact in regard to Second Corinthians must be strongly emphasized at the very beginning: all, literally all textual evidence proves this letter a unit. No abbreviated text has ever been discovered that might raise a question on this score, and no text that showed an omission or omissions has ever been found. This fact alone stands as a bulwark against the hypotheses of our day.”81
John MacArthur, who argues strongly for the unity of the letter, says Paul’s change in tone between the two sections is perfectly understandable. Chapters 1–9 are addressed to the majority (cf. 2:6) who repented after receiving the severe letter, while 10–13 primarily respond to the unrepentant minority who still follow the false apostles and who believe Paul walks “according to the flesh” (10:2).
I firmly believe this is one unified letter, and that hypercritical reviewers will always find a way to discredit the integrity of God’s Word. As the epistle makes clear, Paul’s critics were already active in his own lifetime, seeking to discredit his qualifications, his theological teachings, and his humility. Paul rebuts these allegations directly and convincingly, denouncing the false teachers and “super-apostles” attacking him. His passionate response springs from his deep concern for the Corinthian church, which he himself established and is now being urged to rebel against his authority. Despite his harsh words, his abiding affection for the Corinthian brothers permeates the letter. This is characteristic of Paul’s teachings—uncompromisingly defending the Gospel’s integrity while expressing love and respect for his Christian brothers, even when they are in error. True to his word, after writing this epistle Paul does make a third visit to Corinth to assist the believers there. And it is most likely during this trip that he writes what many believe to be his most important letter, the epistle to the Romans, which we turn to next.82